Britain's top soldier was vindicated as Tony Blair was forced to claim he agreed with every word of his devastating assessment of British policy in Iraq. • Friends say controversial Army General is honest and has 'no political agenda'• An honest Army man who spoke for his menAfter a remarkable day in politics, Sir Richard Dannatt appeared safe in his job despite having made a series of unprecedented criticisms of Government policy. Sir Richard's brave stance prompted a wave of support from MPs of all parties, servicemen and women at home and abroad and families of soldiers killed in Iraq. The new Chief of the General Staff's interview with the Daily Mail, in which he warned British troops were now "exacerbatin" tensions in Iraq and should come home "some time soon", sent shockwaves through the Government and made headlines around the world. ... http://www.dailymail.co.uk

The United States has quietly started a campaign projected to cost up to $42 million to bolster Hamas's political opponents ahead of possible early Palestinian elections, say officials linked to the program.The plan to promote alternatives to Hamas includes funding to help restructure Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group and provide training and strategic advice to politicians and secular parties opposed to Hamas Islamists."This project supports (the) objective to create democratic alternatives to authoritarian or radical Islamist political options," one official U.S. document obtained by Reuters said.The U.S. campaign coincides with signs that Abbas is considering sacking the government led by Hamas, which defeated Fatah in January elections, in a process that could lead to a new parliamentary vote....http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/774570.html

Eight Palestinians have been killed in two separate attacks on Saturday, Palestinian sources said.Six Palestinians were killed and 20 were injured during an Israeli incursion in northern Gaza, the sources said.Israel Defense Forces said it responded with air and ground fire early Saturday to a "large group" of militants in Gaza who fired anti-tank missiles at an Israeli force.The militants were east of Gaza City, near Israel.Also, Palestinian security sources, two militants were killed in an airstrike in Gaza.The sources add that the two militants were from the Fatah movement.The IDF would only say the airstrike was in Gaza City and that it targeted a car carrying terrorists.In southern Gaza, the IDF said it conducted an aerial attack on a building in Rafah, "which was hiding the entrance to a weapons smuggling tunnel."...http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/10/14/mideast/index.html?section=cnn_world

A roadside bomb exploded outside a provincial governor’s compound Saturday just as the governor was arriving in his car — the third attack in five weeks against a provincial political leader. One government employee was killed, police said.The governor of the eastern Laghman province was not injured in the explosion. Police said someone placed a bomb hidden in a plastic bag in an irrigation ditch just across from his compound. It was detonated by remote control as he was arriving, said Khalil Rahmani, deputy provincial police chief.About a dozen suspects were arrested, Rahmani said. In early September, a suicide bomber killed the governor of Paktia province, and late last month a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the compound of Helmand’s governor, missing the governor but killing 18 people....http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15259773/

Federal officials arrested a man Friday who they believe was posing as a police officer and raping young girls on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation.A task force with the Bureau of Indian Affairs took 29-year-old Jimi Aday into custody on charges of kidnapping and aggravated sexual contact, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of the Interior. Officials planned to take Aday to Flagstaff for a court appearance Saturday.Since March, a man posing as a police officer has raped at least 12 girls and a 20-year-old woman, authorities have said. The man told the girls they were under arrest, handcuffed them and then raped them. The most recent attack was September 6. Only two of the girls reported the rapes because they thought they had been attacked by an actual police officer, said Warren Youngman, assistant special agent in charge at the BIA. ...http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/10/14/reservation.arrest.ap/index.html?section=cnn_us

At least two dozen people were arrested Friday night as students continued to block the entrance to the nation's only liberal arts university for the deaf and hearing-impaired in a protest over its incoming president. Hundreds of Gallaudet University students have blocked access to campus buildings since Wednesday, and the incoming president has refused to step aside. Classes were canceled for a third day Friday. The school's outgoing president, I. King Jordan, said he regretted authorizing the arrests but felt he had no other choice. "Gallaudet University has exhausted all means of communication and negotiation with those who have disrupted the university's educational processes and held the campus hostage to their demands," he said in a statement. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/14/national/main2089783.shtml?source=RSSattr=U.S._2089783